Telugu speech therapist in UK fails to understand patients' English, gets fired

Accents can be hard to understand, but it's wild when that becomes a job hazard. An Indian-origin woman was fired from her job as a Speech and Language Therapist (SALT) in the UK after confessing that English was not her first language, and she failed to understand what her patients and colleagues said. Sai Keerthana Sriperambuduru joined the York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in October 2023.

Sriperambuduru was fired in June 2024 after completing eight months of probation, but reports of her dismissal surfaced only now.

Sai Keerthana Sripreambuduru claimed in her application form that English was her first language, and there was no requirement to prove her proficiency in speaking it. But within weeks, her colleagues found that she was unable to communicate with patients or even with them, according to the UK-based newspaper Daily Mail.

A review meeting was held on November 7 to probe the issue of Sriperambuduru, where she accepted that Telugu was her native language, not English, as she had earlier claimed. Later in December, she said she was attending regular English lessons outside of work, and admitted that she was struggling with transcribing conversations due to children or parents speaking quickly. As a Speech and Language Therapist, she faced difficulty understanding patients' speech, pronunciation, sentence structure, and grammar.

Her line manager also revealed to the panel that, during the application process, Sriperambuduru requested the use of a chat-box feature, allowing interviewers to type questions instead of conducting a face-to-face interaction. The manager described this request as "very unusual", particularly given that Sriperambuduru was living in the UK at the time.

"Sai Keerthana Sriperambuduru was employed by York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust between October 2023 and June 2024. Her employment was terminated in June 2024," a spokesperson of York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said.

Sriperambuduru challenged the Trust's decision to sack her and told a Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) hearing that her education was taught in English and argued that it could therefore be considered her first language. However, the panel disagreed and said she intended to deceive the Trust in order to gain employment, and she was removed from the register.

In the application form, candidates are asked to indicate their level of English proficiency.

The form specifies: "Is English your first language?" You should only answer 'yes' if English is the primary or sole language you use in your daily life. Studying in English or completing education or training at an institution where English is the medium of instruction does not automatically qualify it as your first language."

According to the Daily Mail's report, Sriperambuduru claimed that she "genuinely believed that English could reasonably be considered my first language in the context of my education and professional practice."

In a written submission to the panel, Sriperambuduru wrote, "I did not realise that the HCPC definition required English to be the primary language used in all day-to-day situations, as interpreted within the UK’s regulatory context."

The panel came to a decision after the hearing and stated that this was an attempt to conceal Sriperambuduru's lack of proficiency and indicated her dishonesty.

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